A respected figure in his native Netherlands, Richard Hol (or Rijk Holle) was known in his lifetime (1825-1904) largely as a conductor and for his championship of the most important new composers of his day. Berlioz, Liszt and Wagner all featured in his repertories, but they seem to have left little mark on these two symphonies. He also included in his programmes Brahms and Tchaikovsky, whose voices can be heard, alongside those of Schumann and Schubert. The latter two clearly mark the First Symphony, Schubert and his Great C major Symphony rather too obviously in the finale, Schumann in the thematic handling and some of the melodic manner in, particularly, the Larghetto. Yet it is the acceptance of these influences that seems to release the best in Hol. The music is fresh, unpretentious, well crafted and falls easily on the ear, especially in a sympathetic performance by Bamert and the Residentie Orchestra.
The more ambitious Third Symphony finds him at something of a loss when he lacks such models on which to fall back. The first movement is less certainly formed, the Scherzo somewhat hefty, though there have been comparisons with Mendelssohn's woodland music. A third movement, Nachtmusik, does not seem to justify its idea of alternating some soft nocturnal music with a more spectral scherzo. There is, in short, less certainty of invention once Hol has abandoned a reliance on excellent example. But his music is certainly well worth reviving, especially as we are so woefully ignorant of Dutch music between the great age of Netherlands polyphony and the present day. If the pleasures to be discovered here are minor, that should not disqualify them from our attention.'